HOUSING chiefs in Rossendale are set to scrap two of the four options put forward for the biggest ever shake-up of housing in the Valley.

The move comes after a detailed financial study was carried out to find the most viable options under Rossendale Council's Home Choice campaign. The authority is reviewing the way it looks after its housing stock to try and make £38million worth of improvements to its 4,200 houses.

It is facing a £14million funding shortfall to get the homes up to the Government's Decent Homes Standard (DHS) which bosses hope will be wiped out by one of the new options.

The financial study, carried out by an independent consultancy, has revealed that two of the options -- the creation of an arm's length management organisation (ALMO) and the Private Finance Initiative's would not be viable.

The remaining options are:

The council remaining as the landlord,

Transferring the council's housing stock to a not-for-profit housing organisation.

Julie Smith, project manager at the council, said: "The study found that the ALMO could not bid for enough money to meet the needs of the borough and the PFI would only be able to raise a certain amount of the cash needed. Unfortunately these two options are unlikely to help us reach the Rossendale standard." The authority plans to pick its preferred option in October. Residents can call an independent tenant advisor on freephone 0800 085 2207.